Question:medium
What is the device/implant shown in the following picture, used for femur neck fracture?
What is the device/implant shown in the following picture, used for femur neck fracture?
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A big lag screw up the femoral neck joined to a side plate by a sliding barrel is the workhorse “sliding” hip implant.
Updated On: Jun 22, 2026
- Condylar plate
- Dynamic condylar screw
- Dynamic hip screw
- Locking plate
Show Solution
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Name the parts you can see, then name the implant.
On the proximal-femur film three features stand out: (1) a single thick lag screw driven obliquely up the femoral neck into the head, (2) a side plate bolted onto the outer side of the femoral shaft, and (3) a short barrel/sleeve linking them that lets the neck screw slide. A construct with these three parts at the hip is the Dynamic Hip Screw.
Why "dynamic" and why "hip." "Hip" because the screw engages the femoral head/neck; "dynamic" because the lag screw telescopes within the barrel, so when the patient bears weight the fracture surfaces are pressed together (controlled collapse), encouraging healing. This is exactly why a DHS is the workhorse for intertrochanteric and femoral-neck region fractures.
Rule out the look-alikes:
- A dynamic condylar screw looks similar but is angled and placed at the distal femur, not the hip.
- A condylar/blade plate uses a fixed blade for distal-femur fractures - no sliding hip screw.
- A locking plate shows multiple fixed-angle locking screws through a plate, with no single large sliding neck screw.
The sliding lag-screw-plus-side-plate at the hip can only be a Dynamic Hip Screw (Option C).
On the proximal-femur film three features stand out: (1) a single thick lag screw driven obliquely up the femoral neck into the head, (2) a side plate bolted onto the outer side of the femoral shaft, and (3) a short barrel/sleeve linking them that lets the neck screw slide. A construct with these three parts at the hip is the Dynamic Hip Screw.
Why "dynamic" and why "hip." "Hip" because the screw engages the femoral head/neck; "dynamic" because the lag screw telescopes within the barrel, so when the patient bears weight the fracture surfaces are pressed together (controlled collapse), encouraging healing. This is exactly why a DHS is the workhorse for intertrochanteric and femoral-neck region fractures.
Rule out the look-alikes:
- A dynamic condylar screw looks similar but is angled and placed at the distal femur, not the hip.
- A condylar/blade plate uses a fixed blade for distal-femur fractures - no sliding hip screw.
- A locking plate shows multiple fixed-angle locking screws through a plate, with no single large sliding neck screw.
The sliding lag-screw-plus-side-plate at the hip can only be a Dynamic Hip Screw (Option C).
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